Modern footwear often has toe boxes that are too narrow for the toes of a wearer to spread out and work as nature intended. Such footwear can confine the foot thereby deforming and misaligning the foot and toes over time. In particular, the toes can be forced to angle into each other, causing the big toe to point inward towards the remaining toes rather than fanning out to stabilize the body when in a standing position or in motion. This phenomenon can be observed by referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B which compare a healthy aligned foot with a misaligned foot, respectively. The misaligned foot is characterized in FIG. 1B as having a relatively large hallux valgus angle, HV.
Modern footwear has been shown to cause or worsen foot ailments such as, but not limited to, bunions, plantar fasciitis, hallus valgus, heel spurs, bone spurs, corns, tailors bunions, hammer toes, nueromas, and collapsed arches. Ailments of the foot often correspond to upper body ailments such as, for example, skeletal and muscular misalignment in ankles, knees, hips, back, and neck.
In a healthy foot, the toes move and spread out to help balance the body and distribute pressure on the foot. This enables the arch, tendons, bones and muscles of the foot to work in conjunction to support the body. It is the big toe that acts as a counterbalance to the remaining toes and the heel. The big toe, remaining toes, and heel operate to anchor the arch of the foot to support the body. As in any structure that forms an arch, such as a bridge for example, the arch can support tremendous amounts of weight from above. But if pressure is applied from beneath the curve of the arch, the arch is easily weakened and can collapse. This concept also applies to an arch of the foot and it is why that for so many people the use of an arch support can actually weaken the strength of the foot.
In addition to anchoring the arch, the position of the big toe is crucial during toe-off at the end of the natural gait cycle when walking or running. The big toe supports the weight of the body when pushing off at the end of a stride. If the big toe is not properly aligned, the first metatarsal joint bears the weight of the body and over time the foot goes out of alignment. The misalignment is shown in FIG. 1B where the big toe, first metatarsal joint, and heel are not arranged in a straight line. This misalignment prevents the big toe from acting as the counterbalance to the remaining toes and the heel. This can result in the formation of a bunion, plantar fasciitis, collapsed arches, hammertoes, and other ailments.
Accordingly, there exists a need for footwear that can realign a foot by moving the toes and foot into their healthiest position in order to counteract the damage that modern footwear can cause. Such footwear can be beneficial for the foot when standing, walking, running, swimming, and during other activities where the muscles of the foot are in use.